The Pit and the Night
by Don'tForgetGrover
Summary: A powerful being takes a leisurely stroll on the surface, when he finds a boy with a similar aura as his. Taking him into his protection, can this ancient Primordial train the boy to be a ruthless killing machine?
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own PJO or HOO. I'm not Rick Riordan, 'nuff said.**

Ten-year-old Perseus Jackson wasn't exactly the happiest guy right now.

Cornered by three fatties (can we just call them Fatties A B and C? Thanks.), the child's ire was growing by the second. Too bad the bastards in front of him didn't realize anything, as they were too busy taunting the boy.

"What's wrong, little _boy_? Afraid of a little _beating_ by your father?" Fatty A sneered.

"Aww, the poor orphan. We could _fix_ that face of yours right up!" Fatty B cackled.

Fatty C opened his mouth to make a scathing comment, but Perseus snapped.

He lunged forward, kicking Fatty C's knee, bending it quite unnaturally. With a guttural roar, he jumped and sent an elbow into Fatty B's nose, breaking it instantly. Perseus was too caught up in his rage to notice that he wasn't in control of his body anymore.

 _What's wrong little boy?_ Perseus growled. _Afraid of a little beating by your father?_ Perseus tensed his legs, ready to strike at any moment. _Aww, the poor orphan, we could fix that face of yours right up!_ He made a huge uppercut, nearly tearing Fatty A's head off his body.

"Pathetic," Perseus spat at the three fatties writhing in agony. He turned on his heel and strode away, as if it was just another Tuesday.

And unknown to everyone else, a seed of darkness had found its way into his mind. Perseus wouldn't admit it to anyone else, of course, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he turned sadistic. And while he knew that sadism could be a great tool, as it could bring personal pleasure while bringing an enemy down…

It could also be the cause of his death.

A year later, Perseus sat cross-legged beside a fire he constructed. It was funny, how construction required presence of mind, specific tools and rules on how to construct things, but you can always destroy anything. Regardless of how many times he thought about it, it still retained much of the original amusement he found in it.

The _crack!_ of a leaf brought him back to reality. Perseus rolled backwards, leaping to his feet, anticipating the opportunity of a fight. Taking out a steak knife he stole earlier, Perseus neared the origin of the leaf crack.

"Who's there?" he called out. Of course, it's not like he actually _expected_ someone to answer. If they did, well...they wouldn't.

"Hello Perseus," a voice replied. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Perseus growled. Holding the knife out for light, he saw a man with pitch black eyes and hair, with power rolling off of him in tidal waves. Perseus' eyes widened, this wasn't an average Joe; he knew his name and he seems like a person that could destroy all life with a snap of his fingers and a "Cheerio!".

Meanwhile, the man, who had been reading Perseus' thoughts, smirked. No, he couldn't obliterate life with a snap of his fingers, and he doubted saying "Cheerio!" would help. True, he could probably send everything to his domain without much difficulty, but the campers and legionnaires would be protected by their parents.

Perseus, who had recovered his wits, quickly threw the knife at the mysterious man. While only attempting to incapacitate him, Perseus wouldn't complain if the man died. Perseus started planning out questions to ask him.

What he _didn't_ plan for was for the knife to sail through the man like he wasn't even there. What exactly was this guy? Recomposing himself, Perseus attempted a hard kick to the groin, but found he was immobilized by pure darkness.

The man moved forward, eyes gazing coldly at me before showing the slightest bit of pride. Then, he spoke.

"You will make a great warrior Perseus. My domain shall be good training for you. Now, _sleep._ "

Perseus' eyes would have widened, but they crashed shut in a split second. Slipping into unconsciousness, the last thing Perseus thought about was how screwed he was.

It was a dull throbbing at first. Perseus attempted to ignore it and go back to blissful sleep, but the throbbing quickly blew up into painful shockwaves running along his body. It felt like someone was repeatedly slashing and hacking at him. Perseus screamed in agony, but that only served to increase his pain, which increased his screaming.

 _Ha_ , he thought bitterly, _I'm stuck in a vicious circle._

Just when he decided to give up on struggling, the pain ceased. Perseus wearily raised his head, only to find the man from before, this time regarding him curiously. A woman stood by his side, looking very similar to the man. All three of them were in a dark room, looking suspiciously like a throne room turned bad.

"Interesting," the man mused. "It has never done that before."

"Well, this is your second time doing it, so you should have expected something new," the woman grumbled playfully.

"Excuse me," Perseus called out in a raspy voice. "Who are you?"

The duo shared a glance, as if having a silent conversation. They gave each other hard stares, before finally coming to a compromise (or at least, that's what Perseus hoped what happened).

"Perseus, what do you know about mythology?" the woman asked cautiously.

That was a question he had to ponder. Eventually, he started weaving a response. "Well, there were many kinds of mythology. There was Greek and Roman mythology, the same basic gods, Titans and Protogenoi. Of course, there were some gods that the Romans didn't take from the Greeks, like Janus. There was also Egyptian mythology -"

"Let's focus on Greek and Roman myths. Tell us what you know." the man interrupted.

And so Perseus complied. He spent a good hour talking about the gods, Titans, and the Protogenoi, until the man raised his hand.

"Perseus, everything you just talked about is real," the man said casually, but Perseus could tell the man was gauging his reaction. Although, he probably should have been looking at the woman…

"Dearie, you don't just say that myths from 2500 years ago are real as if you were to list off ice cream flavors," she sighed, and Perseus chuckled. _She's not wrong, you know…_

The man looked mortified. "What would you have me do? You know I'm not one for theatrics."

"Lies."

The man smiled and kissed the woman on the cheek.

Perseus' thoughts raced. That show of power back at the fire, and how he knew about the mythological world...it was almost certain that this man was powerful in the realm of the gods.

"Are you someone powerful?" Perseus asked? "Hades or Pluto? That would explain this gloominess," he joked.

Just then, a girl around Perseus' age ran into the room, faltering when she saw Perseus. "Who is he?"

The man smiled thinly. "I suppose I should introduce everyone. My name is Tartarus, Primordial of the Pit. This lovely lady is Nyx, or Nox in her Roman form, Primordial of the Night." He paused to wink at Nyx, who rolled her eyes but blushed slightly.

"And the young girl is Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades or Pluto."


	2. Chapter 2

After an exhausting explanation between Tartarus, Nyx and Bianca (Perseus decided to stay with the Greek forms), it was Tartarus that offered him the chance to be the second champion of the Pit and Night. Without a second of hesitation, Perseus accepted, glad to be in someone's graces instead of on the streets like the last couple years.

As soon as Perseus accepted, his already dark green eyes descended into onyx black, with a tinge of green around the edge of the iris. His hair almost seemed to suck in light, and his skin paled from a healthy tan to a creamy color. All in all, he looked the part of a representation of Tartarus and Nyx.

"Dear Chaos Perseus, you look like our son," Nyx exclaimed, voicing Perseus' thoughts.

Tartarus chuckled. "If you're done admiring your _devilishly handsome_ self, I still have to take you to your chambers and show you the place you'll be staying in for a while."

Perseus blinked. "Uh, of course. Let's go." He followed Tartarus out of the dark and gloomy room to reveal...a dark and gloomy hallway. If everything was dark and gloomy, how was he supposed to tell the difference between the rooms and hallways?

Tartarus spoke up. "Look above you."

Perseus obeyed. A bunch of stalactites, some long and some short, were in a row. Around them, an elliptical like shape of swirling darkness came to a point, pointing in the direction that Perseus and Tartarus emerged from.

As if reading his thoughts, Tartarus explained, "The stalactites are Morse code. The swirling darkness tells you which way to read it."

Perseus frowned and tried to read it. "Hall D? Is that how you label stuff?"

Tartarus sighed and motioned for him to follow. He walked out of the hall and around a corner.

An hour later, Tartarus asked Percy, "Do you know your mother and father?"

Perseus growled quietly at the back of his throat, but forced himself to stay calm. "My mother was Sally Jackson, she was killed three years ago in a freak accident. I have no clue who my father is, but he abandoned me to a life on the streets and I hate him for it."

Tartarus took a closer look at the boy's aura. A salty breeze, the coastal feeling, a tropical beach buzz. "Perseus, your father is Poseidon."

Perseus now looked conflicted. "I am the son of the sea god. Should I be loyal to Olympus or you?"

Tartarus sighed. He had gone through the same thing with Bianca: for two weeks she stayed in her room to think about who to serve. But this time around, he had a solution ready to use. It wouldn't clear Perseus of Poseidon completely, but he would have to choose between a father that hasn't ever been there for him, or a father that would take him in and make him his champion. Which would be _such_ a hard choice.

"Perseus, what do you say that I adopt you as my son?"

The question definitely caught the boy off guard. Sure, Tartarus seemed caring. But he's a _Primordial_ , and it would be taxing on him to have Bianca alone, let alone Perseus as well.

But as he searched Tartarus' face for any sign of doubt about this, he turned up empty-handed. Tartarus looked like his whole existence climaxed at this choice. Perseus sighed in relief and gratitude.

"Tartarus, I accept your offer."

A wanly smile flitted across his face. Then he spoke, "well, if you're going to be the son of a Primordial, you better be able to back it up with skill. And skill can only come from rigorous training."

Perseus got a glint in his eyes. "When do we start?"

Tartarus just gave an evil grin, and without warning, took out a sword and swung, stopping the blade an inch from Perseus' neck. "You lose. We have a lot of training to do."

And so the boy trained. He became a fierce warrior, mastering multiple weapons and powers. The sword and shield, Perseus' favorite combination, turned him into a killing machine. If he wanted to, Perseus could ricochet throwing knives off a wall with deadly accuracy. Spears plus judo proved useful from time to time for him. And not to mention his powers: He could just make a sheet of darkness and crush his enemies under it, though that took a lot from him.

But the one weapon he couldn't master was a bow. He was an okay archer in the first ten shots or so, maybe getting at least within five feet of the target.

But after that, it was abysmal.

In any case, Perseus never touched a bow again, stating that it "brought bad luck to the owner." Which, he wasn't _totally_ wrong about. The one time he touched Bianca's prized bow, she kept shooting off target for the rest of the day.

But that was fine. Perseus would simply have to do with anything else.

 **Three Years Later**

Perseus waded into a sea of Hephaestus-quality automatons, slashing and hacking at anything coming his way. Ever since his dip in the Styx a year ago, Perseus no longer had to worry about dying in training, since his Achilles spot was somewhere four inches below his left armpit **(lol)**.

Perseus cleaved an automaton head off, then whirled to slash at another enemy, but his blade found nothing but the floor of the training room. Perseus sighed and pulled out his sword, assessing the damage. The floor would regenerate soon enough.

Suddenly, the training room shook gently, which meant one of two things: either Bianca and him were supposed to report to the throne room, or Nyx was angry but didn't want to hurt Bianca and him. It's happened before.

Two minutes later, Perseus strolled into the throne room, wearing a dark green T-shirt and jeans. Not ten seconds later, Bianca came in yawning. He didn't know if he'd rather an attentive Bianca that would tell him what Tartarus and Nyx wanted but would beat the crap out of him, or a sleepy Bianca that wouldn't hurt him but leave him on his own.

Tartarus cleared his throat. "Today is a _very_ important day for all of us currently here. It will be my pleasure to announce th -"

Nyx cut him off. "Two things. One is that it's time to go fetch Bianca's brother from Maine. The -"

Bianca let out a whoop of delight, and ran out of the throne room to prepare for the mission.

Nyx coughed. "The other is that we've come up with a new nickname for you, _Percy_."

Perseus opened his mouth to voice his negative opinion on the silly nicknames they gave him, but closed it again when he realized Percy was just Percy, simple as that. "Okay, I guess Percy would work."

Nyx grinned. "What did I tell you, Tartarus? I told you he would like simple! You owe me a date by the Phlegethon!"

Tartarus smiled feebly. "I suppose we haven't done that in a while. As soon as the children get going, we'll go as well. Agreed?" He motioned for the newly christened Percy to get ready.

Percy smirked. As he was about to leave the throne room, he called over his shoulder, "Use protection, I don't want a little godly sibling." Ignoring Nyx and Tartarus' blushing faces, he jogged to his bedroom to pick out his gear.

 **AN: Percy and Bianca are the same age. Disclaimer will always be the same.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Sword...or knives? Sword...or knives? Hmm...knives...or sword?_

Percy wasn't getting anywhere with his choosing of weapons. Normally he would grab his armor, shield and sword, kill stuff and leave, but this was an extraction mission.

He read up on the target's biography again. Nico di Angelo, 12 years old, pale complexion, loves Mythomagic. Percy never got why the Mythomagic was involved, but he supposed it might be useful, considering all the mythology he needed was there.

Turning his attention back to his weapons, he barely had time to even _look_ at them before a loud knock came from the other side of the door. Not bothering to wait, an overly excited Bianca burst through the door, with a smile so wide it made Percy wince.

"C'mon, Perseus! My brother isn't going to come to Tartarus without knowing it exists!"

Percy bit back a groan. It was times like these where Bianca acted juvenile and happy. Didn't suit him _at all._ "Nyx got a nickname for me. It's Percy."

Bianca thought for a second. "Okay, Percy it is! Now let's go! I have six years of memories to catch up on…" she trailed off, most likely thinking about the experiences she should have had.

Percy smiled and quickly chose the sword, knowing she wouldn't wait for long. Adjusting his helm, he turned to leave and bumped into...Bianca. His cheeks filled with red.

"Ah, sorry, should've watched where I was going -" he was cut off by an equally red Bianca.

"No reason to apologize, I was in the way. Now, uh, let's go." Percy quickly nodded his approval, and the two quickly hastened towards the entrance of Tartarus.

Standing impatiently was Alcyoneus at the foot of the massive cliff. He sighed when he saw the duo making their way towards him. "Well, you're finally here, so let's go." After a few seconds of no movement, Alcyoneus snapped, "If you're done looking at the wall, come here so that I can flash you out.

"Sorry," was heard as two former demigods grumbled. Alcyoneus put a hand on each of their shoulders, and they reappeared on a ledge about five feet from the top of Tartarus.

"This is as far as I can go. Good luck you two," Alcyoneus murmured, then he turned and disappeared into a puddle of darkness, which fell back into Tartarus.

Percy and Bianca climbed up with ease, observing the Underworld around them. A whispering river snaked to their right, full of sorrow and pain. The Cocytus.

Pulling out her map of the Underworld, Bianca studied it carefully until she came to a decision. "If this," she gestured to the river with a hand, "is the Cocytus, then we have to follow it to the Triple Wall of Bronze. From there, we follow the wall to the Lethe, where we climb over the wall to get to the Garden of the Hesperides."

Percy took a look at the map, and shortly agreed, but internally whined at the distance. Did the Underworld have to be so _big?_

Apparently Hades thought yes.

In any case, Percy and Bianca started the 42 mile jog to the Lethe.

7 hours. It robbed their energy completely, with a pair of sweating teenagers barely getting to the Lethe before collapsing.

"We...can keep...going...in the...morning," Percy panted out.

Bianca shook her head, wincing at how much that took out of her. "We have to...move...we won't last long sleeping."

"At least take a break...I don't think we have...enough energy to climb walls...in our current state."

Bianca nodded wearily, too tired to argue, and laid down about thirty feet from the Lethe. Percy sat beside her, nibbling half a piece of ambrosia.

"Percy, what are you doing? That's healing material, not an energy drink!"

Percy grinned. "It's not an energy drink, now that's nectar. Ambrosia and nectar allows demigods to recover energy faster."

Bianca sighed. "You never had patience."

Percy puffed his chest out with mock arrogance. "Me? Impatient? For anything? Never! You wound me with your words, di Angelo."

Bianca smiled. As she was about to retort, she heard a distinct shriek that could only belong to a Fury. She stayed frozen for a split second, but in that split second, two things happened.

One is that she now had three Furies dive bombing at terminal velocity to capture her, no doubt. The other is that Percy packed up everything, and I mean _everything_ , and drew his sword and trusty shield.

The Furies managed to stop before flying straight into the blade, settling for glaring daggers at Percy instead. The middle Fury cleared its throat, which sounded much needed, and spoke in a still raspy tone, "Lord Hades has commanded that we bring you two to him. He said to try to capture you alive," and she licked her lips in anticipation for something, "but to use, ah, _force if necessary_ …"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

The Fury who had spoken furrowed her eyebrows together. "What do you -" She was saved the hassle of speaking by Percy decapitating all three Furies at once. They burst into piles of gold dust.

Bianca slowly let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The Furies had been out for them, and if it hadn't been for Percy, she doubted she would go free.

"Come on," a gentle voice urged her. "Let's get to the other side. Then we can make camp and sleep."

Bianca sucked in some air, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah, let's go," she whispered as she made to climb the wall.

Percy grabbed her arm gently. "We're not climbing today." Still holding Bianca's arm, he ran right at the wall, and at the last second, pulled her closer, jumped and phased into a shadow.

Bianca did the natural thing. She yelped and kicked him in the shin.

"OW! What was that for?" Percy whined, rubbing his shin.

"For abducting me into a shadow without any warning! For all I know…" Bianca trailed off as she took in her surroundings. "Percy, where are we? Are we still in the shadow?"

Percy kicked himself in his other shin. "I forgot to take us out of the shadow. Hang on - this will get bumpy." He murmured some words she couldn't hear, then took two steps forward in the darkness and fell over an invisible ledge.

"Percy!" Without thinking, I lunged forward and fell like Percy. _Idiot, you're only joining him in death_.

The shadow shook: a gentle tremor, gradually increasing to a deafening roar. Soon, it's the only thing that Bianca noticed.

Just as she was about to go deaf, the shadow threw her out onto the grass of the Garden of the Hesperides. Nearby, Percy lay face down on the grass, shaking violently.

"Percy, you okay?" It blurted from her mouth before she could have a chance to stop it. Percy turned over, and Bianca realized he was laughing.

Angrily, she socked him in the stomach. After a few minutes of calming down, Percy mused, "Was that going too far?" He studied her eyes, searching for any true fear.

Bianca smirked. "I got my pleasure for you having yours. I'd say it's good."

"All right then, set up your stuff, I don't think you would object to a good sixteen hour nap, now would you?"

She nodded. "I wouldn't mind sleeping till the day after tomorrow."

Percy grinned. "Night, Bianca."

"Night, Percy."

 **AN: Go eat a cookie or whatever makes you happy.**


	4. Chapter 4

Percy had no trouble resting before - once after a particularly brutal training session, he hadn't gotten up until Bianca dragged him by the ear out to breakfast four days later. Tartarus had even made a nickname in this aspect for him once, although Tartarus made so many nicknames for him it wasn't much of a surprise.

But now? Now he was wide awake: dead tired, of course, but not the slightest bit sleepy. Percy had an unknown feeling in his gut, yet he felt like he should know it, after it was gone for a really long time.

Fear. He was feeling fearful of his and Bianca's lives. He felt like the little eleven-year-old on the streets again, the one that constantly moved from state to state to get away from the tormentors that would eventually get him.

Pair that with the nightmares he usually had…

Percy decided to take watch for a while, knowing no sleep was coming to him soon. Even though nothing should attack them in the Garden of the Hesperides, it wouldn't hurt to have a watchful eye out.

As he was waiting, Percy glanced over at Bianca. Sleep was one of the times she lost her natural worry, and Percy could actually pretend that they were just two fourteen-year-olds going on a normal trip.

 _Yeah, as normal as you can get when you have to constantly watch your back, and you have no adult supervision._

Percy could feel his eyelids pulling at the ground again, so he decided to sleep. The instant he hit his pillow, he slipped into the bliss of unconsciousness.

 **AN: This won't be a serious part, but I thought of the idea and it was funny as hell to me**

Percy woke up from what seemed like an instant of sleep to lips on his own. His eyes snapped open, and he saw what had to be the scariest sight he'd ever laid eyes on.

An empousa is _kissing him_. Percy thought he'd be a meal by now, but no, the monster had to mouth-rape him too.

Percy lay stock still for three seconds. Then, he kicked upward, throwing the empousa off of him. It hissed, only to be run through by a spike of darkness. **Messed up part over.**

The commotion had woken up Bianca, who took out her bow groggily and slurred, "w-what is it Percyyyy...Ineedmysleep…"

Percy, still breathing heavily, answered, "I woke up about thirty seconds ago to an empousa kissing me. That's it."

Bianca nodded wearily, then promptly fell asleep again.

Percy groaned, not even bothering to hide it. He took out a bottle of nectar and dripped some of it down Bianca's throat. Her left eye opened lazily, and she slowly said, "Percy, you can't use all of the healing for speeding up resting. Use a bit on yourself, who knows what the empousa did?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. She had a point though, so he sipped the nectar tenderly. Immediately, a relieving feeling spread through his body, particularly over his leg, where Percy watched a bite mark slowly fade away.

Now that there was no life-or-death situation, Percy could feel the adrenaline rush slowly fade away, but there was no sleeping now. "Come on Bianca, neither of us are going to sleep anytime soon, so we might as well get a move on."

Bianca nodded, and in record time they had packed up their stuff. Trekking across the before-dawn lit landscape, Percy and Bianca walked in silence for several minutes until Percy dragged Bianca behind a bush.

"Look," Percy murmured, "the Apples of Immortality." True to his word, there stood a giant tree, filled with golden apples that looked so ripe they compelled the two teens to pluck some. And they would, if it weren't for the massive dragon around the tree.

Towering over the tree itself, and in that the two demi-Primordials, was Ladon, the famous guardian of the Apples.

Percy whistled. "Well, we better get a move on before Ladon thinks we're waiting for him to lower his guard. That guy is crazy," he muttered, thinking of the time he fought the hundred-headed beast.

Bianca nodded, and the duo made off again, wandering off somewhere to the east. The drive that she had to find her brother powering her senses and instincts, she took a left on US-101. "Wait," Percy called, "How do you know where we're going?"

Bianca turned to him. "I don't," she grinned, "I'm guessing. But I'm pretty sure our guesses are about the same." With that, she turned on her heel and kept going.

Five minutes later, they reached the Ellis Brooks Auto Center, and both Percy and Bianca knew what the other was thinking. "Should we deal with stealth…?" Percy began…

Bianca grinned. "Or should we just jump and get the hell out?"

Percy pretended to be in deep thought. He took a drachma out of his pocket and flipped it. Tails.

"Well…" Percy drawled. "I guess we have to…"

"IMPROVISE!" both of them shouted at the same time. They raced towards a sleek car that they both knew was the fastest consumer car on the market, a Hennessey Venom GT. A 1.4 million dollar tag? Hell no.

Bianca drove her knife through the car window, shattering it and sending the shards flying through the other window, thus breaking it. Swiftly cleaning out her seat, she waited as a split second later, Percy flipped in the shotgun seat, not even bothering with the shards.

Percy went to work, giving Bianca a shadow car key, then setting up a ward so that everything within five feet was knocked back. Immediately, two security guards went flying through the front doors.

Just to taunt them, Percy and Bianca leaned back in their seats and started playing a mellow song, _Right Here Waiting for You_ by Richard Marx. Fitting, with a bunch of mortals trying to get them.

Laughing their heads off, Bianca casually drove out of the parking lot, with Percy in tow.

Four hours later, Bianca finally slammed on the brakes as they pulled into the premises of Westover Hall. She laughed in exhilaration; that four hours had been nothing but keeping her foot on the pedal. It felt nice to stretch her legs out.

"Come on Percy, Nico's not gonna wait for much longer." Bianca literally dragged Percy in by his arm, acting much more excited than she had before.

"Okay, ow, okay, ow, you don't have to - ow - be so damn - OW - energetic…ow," Percy exclaimed. Bianca, mostly satisfied, let go of his arm.

Entering the front doors, they were immediately flanked by two teachers. "Why are you not at the dance?" the man on their left asked suspiciously.

Bianca snapped her fingers, creating a ripple in the air. "You will ignore us forever." The Mist did its desired effect on the man on the right, causing his eyes to glaze over and saunter away, but the man on the left wasn't fooled. He narrowed his eyes slightly and walked away stiffly.

Taking her bow out, Bianca fired an arrow at his head. At the last second, the teacher spun around and snapped the shaft.

Both Bianca and Percy's eyes widened. The man smirked, and changed into his true form of a manticore.

"Oh," was all they said as the manticore charged. Percy raised his hand, and three spikes were made to impale him, but the manticore slipped between two of them. Bianca seized her chance and fired off two arrows, but they only grazed him and made him angrier.

Finally taking out his sword and shield, Percy lunged forward and tried to shield bash the monster, but the manticore jumped back and shot spikes from his tail. Deflecting them with his sword, Percy slapped him back with his shield again.

Suddenly, the monster turned around and kicked back an arrow that Bianca had fired from behind. Utilizing the momentary distraction, Percy drove his sword through the manticore's face. He took delight in watching the beast's look of pain as he dissolved into dust.

"Let's go," Percy said. "We don't want any more fights than necessary."

Infiltrating the gym seconds later, Percy and Bianca looked over their hastily assembled, Mist-powered disguises. It wouldn't fool anyone worth beans in the godly world, but for mortals it should be fine.

 _Percy,_ Tartarus spoke in his head, making the formerly named boy jump two feet in the air. _The Hunters and a group of Greeks are making their way to the demigod as well. Time is of the essence as both groups are extremely close._

"Bianca," Percy murmured, "we gotta hurry. We got company."

She understood immediately, and they darted over the gym floor, sensing out for any powerful auras. Close to the bleachers, a boy stood in a corner, watching mournfully at the pairs of people dancing.

Nico had been separated from his sister at eight, when she went out to get some food and never came back. Ever since, he'd been registered at Westover Hall and just keeping a low cover.

But looking at the two people running over in his direction, he had a dreadful feeling of familiarity…

A boy and a girl, talking and joking completely at ease with each other, as if nothing mattered except them. It felt like a stake through his heart as it reminded him of what Bianca and him _should_ have been.

Then they got within fifteen feet, and Nico sucked in a breath. Those onyx eyes, that flawless smooth hair…

"Bianca," he managed out. She took a step back.

"Nico…" she breathed. She reached out to brush his hair from his eyes, but he flinched back.

"Who's this beside you? My replacement? Why didn't you come back that day four years ago? Did you ever actually care for me?" Nico fired off questions, not caring if his tears stained the ground or not.

Bianca pulled a pained face. "Nico, listen -"

"No, you listen. Did you ever think about me when you were gone for four freaking years, doing who knows what? You abandoned me to die, Bianca! But I doubt it ever crossed your mind." He laughed bitterly.

"Nico, dude, you need to come with us -" Percy started before Nico cut him off.

"And join the girl that left me to rot? No thanks." With that, he turned and ran from the gym.

The chase was only three minutes, but to Bianca it felt like centuries. What Nico had said stung her, because she knew all of it was true. But when the treeline of the forest they had been running through thinned, Bianca shoved all emotions to the back of her mind.

The Hunters were here, as well as the group from the Greeks.

"WHY!?" Nico screamed. "CAN'T I GET SOME PEACE OUT IN THESE WOODS!?"

" _Boy_ ," a Hunter sneered. "You are a demigod. Demigods do not have 'peace'."

"Alright, that's enough!" A buff girl pushed to the front of the Greeks. "Where's the manticore? We were alerted that there was going to be one here."

Percy scoffed. "We took care of him. It's just the matter of who the boy goes with now."

"Us," the Greeks and Hunters said simultaneously.

"Not so fast," Bianca replied. "We've no intention on failing our adopted parents when they say to capture the demigod," deciding against revealing her connection with the "demigod".

"They've been adopted by Kronos! Capture them!" The buff girl from earlier shouted.

Percy and Bianca shared an eye roll. "Not unlike you, we'd like Kronos ripped to shreds as well. Our adopted parents are different, and have no wish to conquer Earth."

"In any case," a Hunter chipped in, "we have orders from Olympus itself to capture this unknown demigod, but no issues were against any others as well." She pointedly glared at Percy and Bianca.

"Okay," Percy snapped. "Who are you?"

"I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Come with me and you might not be castrated."

 **AN: Hate, don't hate, m'sorry for not updating yesterday. [insert crappy excuse for why I didn't update] Toodles.**


	5. Chapter 5

If there was one thing that Bianca and Percy hated, the title would have to go to handcuffs. Sure they were easy to break out of, but it was a hell of a security measure for five seconds of known tranquility.

Of course, Artemis didn't seem to notice that the handcuffs weren't locked anymore, and they weren't going to tell her anytime soon. Percy and Bianca shuffled forward in silence, bearing a painfully obvious difference from the other demigod.

"Why the hell are we in shackles? Have I done anything to hurt you, hm? From _your_ group of gals, not everyone's treated this way."

Artemis turned to Nico, cold fury evident in her eyes, but Nico didn't dare show any fear. Truth be told, though, he was terrified. "You should consider yourself lucky you are not either a pile of ashes or a jackelope by now, _boy._ "

Nico laughed mirthlessly. "Boy this, boy that, do you have _any_ insults besides boy? And why're you so sexist in the -"

"Nico, you've got serious balls talking to Arty here like that," Percy cut off, "but you seriously need to know when to shut up."

Artemis wasn't sure whether to thank the mysterious boy for preventing her temper to get the best of her, or to slap him for his insolence and utter disrespect for her. She settled on a glare, in which she got a grin in response.

Nico, on the other hand, just about exploded. "Who are you to tell me to shut up -" his words were cut short by a dark gag appearing over his mouth.

"Sibling rivalry. You should know, what with Apollo." Bianca chimed in.

"Hades' children," Artemis mused. "You're probably not going to survive this council meeting."

Percy and Bianca shared a look, deciding to let Artemis think that she just got three demigod spawns of Hades.

"Here we are, at Olympus," Artemis spoke proudly, gesturing to the massive white city in front of them. The streets were filled with nymphs, minor gods and vendors, selling the latest models of shields and swords and the like.

"Impressive," Percy started. "But small in comparison to home."

Artemis bit her tongue. Though Olympus was huge, she never knew how big the Underworld truly was. By what Hermes says, it's like, "a dark, deserted and gloomy copy of Olympus plus three gigantic football fields **(Fields of Punishment, Asphodel and Elysium)** ".

Finally arriving at the throne room, she pushed open the massive throne gates to reveal a towering room. Twelve enormous seats pulsing with power made a U shape, with five on each side and two at the end of the U. Artemis promptly made to her seat, growing to her godly form of thirteen feet.

Of course, it was at this time that Percy's handcuffs slipped off. They clattered to the floor, earning the shocked gazes of twelve Olympians and a twelve-year-old, while Bianca simply headbutted him in the shoulder.

"Of course it was now, in the presence of the Olympian council that you reveal you picked the lock. Klutz." She took off her own chains as she said this.

"Hey, I'm not as bad as dad. Remember when he leaned in for a kiss from Mom and he fell on Aunt C?"

"Hah, that's true. He was crying for at least a day straight."

"Ahem," Zeus attempted at gaining control of the situation. "You are in the presence of the gods. Do you not bow?"

Percy smirked. "Our father told us the true stories of the Olympians on the Styx. The only Olympian we both find worthy is Artemis. Bianca likes Poseidon too, but I hold an old grudge against him. Although..." he trails off, clearly in deep thought. "If Hermes wasn't so prankster, he'd be cool."

"YOU DARE SHOW THAT LEVEL OF DISRESPECT TO THE KING OF THE GODS? I SHOULD HAVE YOU SMITED WHERE YOU STAND!" Zeus thundered, reaching for his master bolt.

Bianca shrugged. "With all your paranoia, you probably should. Or at least, you could try."

Zeus smirked. "Any last words, demigods?"

Percy and Bianca shared a gaze and laughed. Simultaneously, they muttered, "We're not demigods, idiot." They raised their voice enough so Zeus would catch the last bit or so.

It had the desired effect. Zeus turned dark red, almost purple with rage, and fired his master bolt, intending to send the two to Tartarus.

What he _didn't_ expect to see was to clear out the smoke to find two perfectly unharmed teens.

"Hehe, Zeusy here thought his little bolt could actually _touch_ us. Father would disown us right away if he even got close." In his snickering, he didn't notice that Nico's shadow gag had faded away.

"GIVE ME MY MASTER BOLT BACK!"

Bianca reached behind her back and pulled out the bolt. "As amusing as this is, we need to get down to business. Both of us are going back home, and we're taking him with us," she stated as if she were talking to a toddler, jerking her head in the direction of Nico.

"I'D RATHER DIE THAN GO WITH YOU!" Yep, Nico was mad.

Zeus tried summoning his master bolt back, and it complied, taking Bianca along with it. When Zeus tried to reach out and take it, she used the bolt to smack him across the face, then she jumped off his still-outstretched hands and back to Perseus, who gave her a high-five.

" _ **YOU DARE ATTACK**_ -"

"Listen Zeusy-boy," Percy snapped. "We're taking our leave and our comrade. Peace out."

" _ **NOW JUST**_ -"

Percy clapped a hand on Nico's shoulder, and the three of them reappeared in Tartarus' throne room, where - ah, that's up to your imagination. **(I can't break any rating rules here guys)**

A split second later, he teleported Nico to his room next to Bianca's, then decided to teleport to his own bedroom as well. Listening to the throne room, it wasn't long before Tartarus and Nyx got _seriously_ mad at Bianca for...interrupting them.

Sure enough, the palace started shaking for a few seconds, before letting off and having an enraged Tartarus take its place. "BIANCA, YOU ARE _SO_ DEAD!"

Percy couldn't help it. He burst out in laughter. Sweet, glorious laughs that escaped his lips, with his body shaking more than in the Garden.

After all, he did miss most of his childhood.

The next day, as Percy wolfed down his breakfast of bacon and eggs, Bianca suddenly laughed at a reminder. Percy raised an eyebrow, and Bianca clarified. "Nico was trying to escape the palace for four hours last night."

Percy grinned. "The poor guy. He knows there's no exit now, right?"

Bianca shook her head. "He only stopped because he fell asleep while looking for an exit. I tried to tell him that there was no exit, but he didn't believe me. Ah well, it's his loss."

As if cued, Nico's frantic voice started echoing through the palace. "WHERE IN HELL AM I NOW? I SWEAR THIS ISN'T A PALACE, THIS IS A LABYRINTH!"

Percy laughed, but internally he started worrying. _How much longer is it going to be before Nico starts trusting us?_ Or, another frightening thought: _What if he never trusts us? Or worse, he betrays us to the enemy?_

 _Relax,_ his chill self thought. _He's twelve. He'll get over it._

Before he had any more time to think, Tartarus and Nyx emerged out of the darkness. Tartarus looked both excited and weary, while Nyx looked frail.

Percy and Bianca stood up at the same time, bumping into each other, but that wasn't a worry. "What is it?"

Tartarus only shook his head, while Nyx managed to gasp out two words that still shocked everybody, regardless of their previous knowledge of the topic.

"I'm pregnant."

 **AN: Damn I guess they didn't listen to Percy in Chapter 2 when he told them to use protection. Right?**

 **Also, there you go, another update within like nine hours, probably eight. Hopefully I'll update tomorrow as well (I'm in PST), but tomorrow I got a party, so no promises. (I'm evil that way.)**

 **Peace out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Percy and Bianca sat for what felt like an eternity, neither yet coming to terms with that simple phrase. Suddenly, Percy stood up triumphantly, pointed to Tartarus and Nyx accusingly and exclaiming, "Aha! Didn't use protection? I knew you wouldn't listen to me!" Finishing his point with feigned sadness, Percy fought well to keep his blend of sadness and indignation, but his raucous laughter soon dominated him.

"Joke's on you, I was never pregnant."

"Oh…"

"But there's another reason we came here. We understand Bianca's brother isn't open to us?"

This time, it was Bianca who answered. "Pfft. I might be trained to see a person's emotions, but even an idiot like Percy can't possibly misunderstand 'I'd rather die than go with you'".

"Yeah, and even if he _somehow_ manages to - hey, don't call me an idiot!"

Nyx cleared her throat. "We think it best that you two talk to Nico today. If we delay it any further, we could pass the message that we are hostile."

Taking some time to let that sink in, Percy stood up. "I'll go. We can just have a chat, guy-to-guy, try to convince him to not try to kill us every chance he gets."

Bianca shook her head. "I'm his brother, I think I can sympathize with him."

"You heard him yourself, he spent four years alone because you ditched him. I don't think that would be a very smart decision."

Tartarus cut in. "We'll all go. I think that should suffice, and our points should reinforce each other. More persuasion power."

Everyone else nodded their assent. "Great. We'll have that in 40 minutes. Don't be late."

35 minutes later, the four of them stood outside a solid obsidian door, obviously containing Nico inside the room it guarded. "Well," Tartarus began a bit awkwardly, "since we're all here, uh, we might as well start now...yeah…"

Nyx promptly slapped her husband, then opened the door. As expected, Nico was waiting for this opportunity, attempting to run out, only to bump into Percy. A door closed on the other side, and now the five were stuck in a torchlit tunnel.

"Listen, Nico, all we're asking is to hear us out. After this, the door will open and you can leave or whatever suits your fancy." After Nico's skeptical glance, Percy added, "I swear it on Tartarus."

Nico looked around for a bit, contemplating the situation, before he shrugged and waved his hand in a "go-on" motion.

"First off, we're champions of the Pit and the Night **(hehe)**. Second off, they're our parents. They gave us a home when we couldn't have it, even if it's in the mythological world where it's ten times harder than in the mortal world. Me? I was living on my own, stealing to get money and food. I was turning sadistic too - lucky for me, Tartarus found me and taught me how to control it."

"Okay," Nico interrupted, "but weren't we all living tough lives?"

Bianca grimaced. "When I went out for food four years ago, two large men kidnapped me. Tried to tell them that I had no parents so they wouldn't get any money, but that just made them more eager to kill me. They were going to rape me," she finished with a scowl.

"However, Nyx here plunged the entire situation into darkness, and then she guided me out to the street, where she did much like Tartarus did for Percy."

"So you couldn't have gone visit me anytime in the past four years because…?"

"We didn't have enough skill to get here the way we did." At Nico's inquisitive look, she elaborated, "driving four hours in a hijacked Venom."

Nico let out a low whistle. "So, about all this mythology stuff...it's real?"

"About time you got it…" Percy muttered.

Nico gave him a death glare. "Just checking. Are we done? I'm ready to make my decision whether to stay or not."

Nyx waved her hand, and the door opened to let in some stray rays of light. She immediately withdrew into a corner.

Nico promptly started strolling away. Before he stepped out, he turned back to look at the four of them.

"I understand your points. I think I was wrong to hate you for leaving, Bianca," he smiled sadly at her. "But I don't think my place is here. I think I serve my father and my father only. Bye Percy, Lord Tartarus and Lady Nyx. See you soon...maybe."

With that, he turned back and left.

Percy turned to Bianca, who had tears silently streaming down her face. Awkwardly, he wrapped an arm around her, blushing crimson as he did so. Bianca buried her face in his chest, eliciting even more blood to rush to Percy's face. He turned to Tartarus and Nyx, who were quietly laughing at Percy's fate. _What do I do?_ He mouthed to them.

Tartarus only winked, while Nyx completely ignored his question.

Bianca mumbled something that was muffled against his shirt. Percy pulled away, and Bianca whispered, "Thank you," before turning and retiring to her own chambers.

The next day, breakfast was eaten in silence. Tartarus and Nyx merely appeared with a piece of bacon in their hands. No one knew what to say after the events of yesterday.

After about fifteen minutes of this state, Tartarus frowned and pulled out a black iPhone with tinges of red on the edges. "No, no, this couldn't have happened. Percy and Bianca just saw her a couple days ago!"

"What is it Father?" inquired the two witnesses in question.

Since Tartarus was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, Nyx took over. "Artemis has been captured."

Percy and Bianca shared a glance. "Our support goes to Olympus, does it not?"

"Well, yes. Although we agree that most of the Olympians have points to work on, the Titans would do a much worse job at ruling Earth."

Bianca smiled. "Then let's go. I don't feel like waiting around for the one good Olympian goddess to free herself."

Percy murmured his assent.

Meanwhile, a girl by the name of Zoë Nightshade sat in a tree located in Acadia National Park, brooding over what could possibly have happened to her mistress. Normally, Artemis would have been back an hour ago, but now the sun was setting, and there was still no sign of her.

"Zoë! Dinner's ready and we're just waiting for Artemis." Her closest friend in the Hunt, Phoebe, joined her in the tree. Noticing her shadowed look, she continued in a hushed voice. "What do you think would set Artemis back so much?"

Zoë merely shrugged; there wasn't any cause off the top of her head. "Does thou think that we must assume the best for our Lady?"

Phoebe nodded. "You are the Lieutenant of the Hunt. Everyone will listen to you."

Still, Artemis' lateness was a concern on its own. Artemis had never been one to be late, much less by an hour. If Artemis had been captured…

"Phoebe, pack up the Hunters after dinner. We are going to Camp Half-Blood."

As expected, Phoebe exploded. "What do you mean? We have no need of those idiotic campers!"

"The Oracle. Thy suspects that Artemis may have been captured. We need a prophecy."

Phoebe slowly nodded. "I'll go to dinner now." She fell from the tree, getting to her feet in a perfect roll, before she turned back to face Zoë. "I hope you're right about this decision. After all, we wouldn't want to go to camp for nothing."

Then she actually left Zoë to be alone with her thoughts.

Camp was currently in pre-war mode. With the inevitable rise of the Titans and Artemis' disappearance, everyone was practicing their war skills. Monster attacks have gotten more frequent, giving the Apollo campers plenty of battlefield medic experience. All activities not contributing to the war effort have been cut off. The arena was always packed with demigods sparring, improving their fighting skills.

But it simply felt too peaceful. Something wasn't right.

A cry erupted from the infirmary as an Apollo camper found an arrow in her head, dead before she hit the ground. Campers prepared and not hastily threw together a defense, but everyone knew it wasn't enough as they saw the army they were against.

Over nine thousand monsters were marching towards Camp Half-Blood, with Echidna and the Chimera at the vanguard.

 **AN: Well shit. I lost another day of updating. Don't kill me.**


	7. Chapter 7

Percy had shadow travelled to Westover again, promptly collapsing at the sheer energy it took to shadow travel two people across the United States. Luckily for them, the Venom GT was still in the parking lot, so it was only a 40 minute drive to camp.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been funny for a spectator to watch 5'4" Bianca lug a 5'7" Percy into camp. Unfortunately, the circumstances weren't exactly fine and dandy, as demonstrated by the monster siege currently at camp's doorstep.

But there was one nagging problem…

How did they get _inside_ the camp? Shouldn't it have magical borders?

Deciding to save questions for later, Bianca stomped her foot on the ground, creating a hole in the middle of the enemy army that lead straight to Tartarus. Taking out her bow, she started sending arrow after arrow into the enemy ranks - a fact she would be enjoying if it weren't for the sheer numbers of the army.

Dropping her bow (and Percy, but she didn't realize that), Bianca sprinted towards the lead, drawing her twin knives. She became a literal death promise; get within two feet of me and I promise I'll make you reform.

"ENOUGH!" A blast of fire came for Bianca, but she ducked under it and slashed off the leg of a dracaena, revealing the voice. Echidna stood fuming, with Chimera at her side, growling ferally at the champion of the Pit and Night. The monsters made a wide circle around the combatants, sensing an honorable duel was what they wanted.

"Ah, the anteater and the Chihuahua. So nice to see you out of Tartarus! On a vacation, perhaps?" Bianca loved this part, where she could just jab at them with words and make them angry, reckless and irrational.

"Fool! You shall beg for my mercy when we're done! I -" Echidna's words were cut short when two throwing knives embedded themselves into her and her partner's foreheads.

Echidna didn't stop talking for a few seconds though. "You! Against honor! Dishonor on everyone you -"

Bianca grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the ground. "Listen Anteater, I don't play honorably. Because," and she leaned in close to Echidna's ear as she whispered the last part, "I'm no hero, I'm just a survivor. But I make sure I'm a damn good one." With that, Echidna and the Chimera faded into dust.

The monsters hissed, realizing that their enemy had taken out their unprepared leaders without honor. With renewed vigor, they began their assault on the lone champion fueled by adrenaline and bloodlust.

Bianca was good, there was no denying it. But fighting an army of gargantuan proportions without break was tiring for anyone. Her slashes and chops slowed, her breathing grew more weary, her reaction time dragged on. She started fighting her way back to camp, in hopes that her adrenaline and natural ADHD would save her for long enough.

No such luck. A telkhine's meaty paw sent her sprawling seven meters away. A dracaena's blade sunk into her right shoulder blade. As she took more and more hits, she knew it was only a matter of time before she couldn't even stand anymore, and that would be the end of her.

She felt her knees buckling, begging to be released. _No_ , she pushed herself. _I would take as long as I can to die._

The monsters jeered, knowing her end was soon. One particularly large hellhound stepped towards her, his red eyes boring into her.

He snarled. "Your life ends here, champion of Night and the Pit." Bianca managed a smile, that hellhound was going to be the first and last time anyone had mentioned Night before Pit.

He lunged, and Bianca weakly dodged. The tail, however, managed to knock her on her back. She didn't get up.

The hound started shaking in what Bianca could only describe as maniacal laughter. He lunged, aiming for her head, when a foot touched her chest and she disappeared, both physically and mentally, as the toll of the day proved too much for her mind to take.

Bianca woke up to two Apollo campers taking notes on her condition. Out of instinct, she wiggled her toes, fingers, and stretched her head. Good, no extremities seem to be missing.

Suddenly, a painful throbbing emerged from her right shoulder blade. Quietly swearing, she laid down gently.

"Holy Hera," one of the campers muttered. "She's awake after three days. I fully expected her to be comatose for two weeks, minimum."

Bianca let out a weak chuckle. "Where I come from, extremely quick healing was commonplace. And where's Percy?"

"If you mean the guy you were carrying into camp, he's on the bed next to yours. With his rate of recovery, he should wake up later today. By the way, I just realized that you took out basically the entire army, and we don't know your name."

"Uh, Bianca di Angelo, daughter of...Hades." She prayed to the named god to let her pass as just one of his children, and received confirmation when she saw a floating skull atop her head. Claiming.

Thankfully, the pair of campers nodded and moved on to the next injured person. **(AN: There is no Big Three Pact in this fanfiction. The Great Prophecy is also different but it won't be in this chapter, which I'm writing at 11:30 PM, and have no time to think of words that rhyme.)**

Her eyes drifted to the plate set near her, obviously for her to consume. Ambrosia and nectar. Only just realizing how famished she was, she wolfed down two pieces of ambrosia and drained the small glass of nectar. Immediately, she felt the godly effects start to kick in, numbing the pain in her shoulder and her torso.

Another camper walked into the infirmary, passing beds until he came to mine. His sky blue eyes locked onto my onyx ones before uttering, "You have a visitor."

As if cued, Nico di Angelo briskly came to my side. He sat down next to me, and judging by his red eyes and lines down his face, it looked like he'd shed some tears.

"Um…" Bianca faintly remembered comforting Nico when he was six. She couldn't really hold Nico in her arms now, as she was one: bedridden and two: the same height as him. "Hi…"

Nico gave her a glare, but it was filled with sadness more than anything else. You're stuck in this gods damned infir -"

"Nico! Profanity! If I wasn't confined here I would slap you!"

He gave a watery smile. "So you remembered."

"Yeah, of course I did, what did you think all those slaps and pulling on your - wait a second, did you say _gods_ dee'd?"

"Of course, you've been out for three days straight, I wasn't going to be a blustering idiot about the mythological world when you woke up." Nico grinned, but Bianca sensed that there was a tinge of bitterness that she hadn't told him everything.

"Hey, fighting an army over nine thousand strong, plus Echidna and the Chimera, isn't easy."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Why'd you do it anyway? You just arrived at camp, like me. I understand that you've had four years straight to train to become a badass, but you don't have to play hero."

Bianca laughed. "You're the exact opposite of Echidna. I had to tell her that I was no hero, just a survivor. And yet here you are trying to convince me not to be a hero."

His lower lip quavered, just slightly, such a small movement that most people wouldn't have noticed. "I already lost you for four years. I don't want to lose you after only a couple days."

Bianca opened her mouth to speak, but a Hunter entered the infirmary, eyes roaming the room until they landed on the former daughter of Hades. "A quest has been given to the leader of the Hunters, and she requests that you come along."

"What?" Nico looked pissed. "She just got back. You can't expect her to go so soon."

"Silence _boy_ , you will learn to keep your peace before there are physical jabs thrown at you rather than verbal." The Hunter turned back towards Bianca. "Can you walk?"

Bianca gingerly rolled off the bed. Immediately, her right leg agonized in protest, and she mashed a piece of ambrosia and spread it over a bandage. The agony soothed, and in a few seconds she felt no pain at all. "I feel fine now. What does this quest entail?"

"Saving Artemis."

 **AN: You probably knew that but I don't care. I don't feel like ending on a cliffhanger.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Before I begin this chapter, I want to let you guys know that I'm sorry...about not letting you know about the delay. (I'm going to be completely honest, I'm not sorry for not updating. Shit hits the fan and then you gotta prioritize.)**

 **Also, I did not rate this Fiction T because I was bored. This chapter in particular, contains some rather gruesome scenes. Note that I will most likely never write lemons.**

 **Anyways, I should probably get on with the chapter before the AN is longer than the actual chapter...What are you still here for? Go, go, go! :)**

 **(Questmates are Zoe (I got tired of the dots above the e), Phoebe, Thalia, Bianca and Clarisse.)**

Bianca sat bolt upright, drenched in her own sweat. In her haste to get up, she hit her head on the bunk above her, waking up Percy. Within two seconds, Percy had rolled off the top bunk and drawn his sword, scanning the room for any possible threats. After a few seconds, he sighed and sheathed the deadly weapon. "Negative. Dammit Bianca, let me sleep for once…" he scowled as he realized how childish he sounded.

Bianca couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. "I just hit my head on the bunk. After years of training you've gotta be able to discern between that and threats," she teased him.

Percy sighed again. "So what was it? Another nightmare? You haven't had one in a while."

Bianca shook her head. "No nightmares, but there's a nagging feeling. Like something bad's going to happen on this quest."

Percy glanced at the clock. _1:39_. "A nagging feeling? Sleep on it. You have a good four hours until dawn." **(AN hehe not-really-a-Halo-reference)**

Bianca nodded, then promptly crashed back in bed. It took little more than seven seconds before she fell back into unconsciousness.

Percy gazed at her sleeping form, mentally shaking his head. _I swear, I will never understand her, even if we were immortal…_ Without another thought, he too, quietly fell asleep.

Bianca woke again, after what felt like mere seconds, to find that the sky outside was still dark. Quietly, she rose out of bed. _13:62...wait, what?_ As far as she knew, the hours only went up to 12, and minutes up to 60. No sooner had that thought crossed her mind that the clock flickered out of existence.

 _Well, this is strange…_ she mused. Deciding to sleep some more, she turned back to the bunk, only to notice a chilling fact.

Where Percy normally slept was empty. She climbed onto the top bunk, and there it was: no Percy. Only a single slip of paper on a pillow.

 _Bianca. Ah, I knew you would find this. Your brother is $^ &# and will be ^%$* %. Come to the pine at the border of camp ASAP, and go alone. Percy's life depends on it._

 _-Karl_

Dropping the note with shaky hands, Bianca grabbed her bow and quiver, then rushed out the door to the cool night air. Sprinting as fast as her legs could take her, Bianca ran until the pine was in sight - and with it, a sight that had frequented her nightmares.

Percy's limp body was impaled on one of the branches, along with a second note attached to his right foot. Ignoring the note for now, she rushed forward and cradled Percy in her arms, sobbing, muttering phrases that would have appeared incoherent to anyone who may have passed by.

"You're late."

Bianca raised her head to see the man who just spoke. He was tall, maybe about 6'5", with dirty blonde hair peeking out from the edges of his midnight black hoodie. Casual jeans with sneakers adorned his lower half. With a start, she realized that his eyes were... _very unique._

His iris was a powerful shade of blue, like the kind you would expect to be emitted from a 2100s piece of technology. With no pupils, and a dark sclera, Bianca immediately went on the defensive.

"Karl?" Her voice came out meekly, and she mentally kicked herself for appearing so weak in the presence of who was likely her brother's murderer.

He smiled coldly, revealing perfectly aligned white teeth. His canines were longer and sharpened to a fine point, she mused warily. "Yes, I'm glad you remembered. Although I can sense the doubt rolling off of you in waves."

"I doubt your name is actually Karl."

'Karl' gave Bianca a chilling glare, before throwing his head back and laughing. Once he had calmed down enough, he gave her a look that said everything. ' _No shit Sherlock, now hurry up with the damn accusations.'_

"You killed him." It surprised even her, the owner of the quote, which the ease in how it slipped out of her lips.

"Yes." Equally as calm.

"Why?" She cocked her head about 20 degrees. "He never did anything to you, as far as I know. You had no provocation, no?"

Unlike the first smile, this one was filled with pain, regret, sadness and - _was that sadism?_ Maybe she'd gone loony. But it flickered away after a second.

"You're next." The words had barely left his mouth and into the cognitive part of Bianca's mind before he lunged forward, severing both of her arms from her body. She remembered screaming in absolute agony, with only the ability to think of survival, nothing else. Blood, well Chaosdamnit, the blood was everywhere, shooting out in all directions from her shoulder sockets, flowing up Thalia's pine, and Karl, _dammit she got distracted_ , staring at her flailing armless body in mild amusement - _wait, why is blood going up Thalia's pine?_

The pain subsided, barely enough to read the words written in her own blood. _You failed._ That's the message. She growled, but as fast as her momentary bravery (in her plan to take down Karl of course) came, it was gone, and absolute pain came back to fill it.

Her consciousness lifted out of her body, surveying the sight. Bianca - _herself_ \- lay twitching , almost unrecognizable if it weren't for the randomly helpful scars that spelled out her name on her chest. _When did she get those scars?_ In her former state of agony, she hadn't seen Karl slip away, _like the coward he was_ , and now he was nowhere to be seen. Percy, still as dead as ever, that is, until he slipped off the branch with an ease she didn't know he possessed. Walking right up to her until there was a mere three feet between them, he fell to his knees, suddenly looking impossibly weak.

"Why? Why did you do it? I thought I could trust you with my _life_ , Bianca. Never in the three years together did the thought of you being a - a _traitor_ cross my mind." Each word felt like Percy was punching her with her own guilt. Nothing came _close_ to this pain - mentally and physically.

"I - I…" she struggled to find words, partially because she was still strained from the pain, partially because she had no response.

" _ **I HATE YOU!"**_ Those three words said everything else. Turning on his heel, Percy ran, still with parts of the branch in the gaping hole in his body, blood trailing his path.

"Bianca!" She turned and ran. One.

"Bianca!" Collapsing at the base of the hill, she finally let out the pent-up storm of emotions she had been feeling ever since that weird _13:62_ time. Two.

"Biancaaaaa!" Tears rolled freely down her face, marring normally beautiful cheeks and eyes. Three.

And...a resounding _SLAP!_ Echoed through her head. She raised a hand to her face, finding a red hand print.

A cacophony of voices sounded out, seemingly from nowhere. Short phrases she could make out, for a time, then everything just drifted in and out of her senses.

Apparently, her consciousness decided to make a break for it, seeing as she fainted on the grass shortly thereafter.

 **Finally, godsdamnit, I'm done. By this point, I'm ready to punch a wall or two (and get fired from my job rip).**


End file.
